Ca' Rezzonico
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Map.
In 1667 Filippo Bon commissioned the architect Baldassare Longhena, a native of Venice, to build the palace. However neither architect nor client were to see its completion; Longhena died in 1682 before the palace had risen above the first floor and Bon later went bankrupt.
The Bon family sold the unfinished building to the Rezzonico family, nouveaux-riches from Genoa, who had bought their way into the Venetian nobility in 1687. The new owners commissioned Giorgio Massari to complete complete the building (1752). In 1758 Cardinal Carlo Rezzonico was elected Pope Clement XIII. This marked the peak of power for the Rezzonico family and the height of grandeur as far as the palace was concerned. During the course of the 19th century the Ca' Rezzonico passed through several different hands. At one point it was owned by 'Pen' Browning and his wealthy American wife, Fannie Coddington. Pen's father, the poet Robert Browning, died here on December 12th, 1889. The Ca' Rezzonico is home to the Museo del Settecento Veneziano. |
Ca' Rezzonico
Robert and 'Pen' Browning
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